SignalGuru helps shave fuel costs for drivers using a smartphone

With the price of fuel today, most drivers are looking for a way to cut what they pay at the pump. A company called SignalGuru has a new system that uses a smartphone and the phones rear mounted camera to see traffic signals and predict the timing of the next light. The goal is to get the driver to the next light without having to stop. That means less wasting gas. SignalGuru claims that the system helped drivers cut about 20% of their fuel costs when tested in Cambridge, Mass.

The tech could also be expanded to allow the phone to show the driver where parking spaces and gas stations are. It could also be used for all sorts of other things. The software would recognize the traffic lights in an area and report the light status and location. Using the drivers report and reports from other drivers SignalGuru would be able to predict the next light.

The software would tell the driver how fast to drive to get to the next light just as it turns green. The rate of error for the system in testing was about two-thirds of a second in Cambridge. The error grew to a bit over a second in Singapore tests and tests in densely populated areas shows an accuracy of about 2.5 seconds.

[via Extremetech]